Does the Venom Trailer Sell Anything Worth Watching?

by Steven Ruiz ·
Published February 8, 2018
· Updated February 8, 2018

In 2016, Deadpool broke barriers, becoming a huge hit as a R-rated comic book movie. After bringing in big numbers, Deadpool allowed for Logan to earn an R-rating. Obviously, Logan was recently nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 90th Academy Awards. So with R-rated comic book movies becoming a huge play, it was only a matter a time for another studio besides Fox to jump into the ring. Sony then announced a movie centered around the Spider-Man villain, Venom, which seems to be going for an R-rating. Today, Sony debuted the teaser trailer for said movie. The result? Let’s take a look:

Does the Trailer Work?

Sadly, it’s a bit underwhelming. There’s certainly an argument to make that this trailer is only the teaser and they’re building anticipation for the final reveal. However, the trailer itself isn’t really selling anything. There are shots of Tom Hardy running and cars crashing, but nothing is explained beyond Tom in an MRI machine getting tested. Nothing else. It’s always smart to keep things hidden until the full trailer, but this teaser needed more to grab the audience’s attention.

We get a glimpse at Riz Ahmed’s character with the Symbiote. However, the visuals don’t pop or offer intrigue to the casual moviegoer. Yes, there are many months before release and they have plenty of time to edit the effects, but why drop a trailer for a film that isn’t coming out until October if you have nothing to show?

What Did Sony Need to Accomplish?

One of the main issues that this movie is facing is that the film won’t include Spider-Man. That’s right folks, a Spider-Man villain movie that won’t have Spider-Man appear. How will this work? How is Sony making their own Spider-Verse without the web-slinger?

That also brings in questions in regards to who these villains will fight. Will they fight each other? Sony needs to have something to “wow” the general audience. This teaser doesn’t “wow” anyone. A view of Venom’s face followed by a “V” doesn’t cut it

Is the R-Rating Necessary?

Another main aspect is the R-rating. What is Sony doing here to earn an R-rating? We all know how Deadpool acted in his own film, and Logan had blood, violence, and language of its own. What can Venom bring in to earn its R-rating? By the teaser, it looks like a thriller, but Sony will need to crank it up. Venom is a horrifying villain, you need to strike fear in the audience.

The key here is that this trailer needed more. People are already skeptical (myself included), and a run-of-the-mill trailer will do nothing to fix that problem.

Thanks for reading! What are your thoughts on the Venom Teaser Trailer? Comment down below!

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11 Responses

From the rate of fans asking about Venom (even non venom linked titles just venomized variants) I think it will be a big screening!! I’ve seen an increase in its popularity within the comic industry, I have high hopes!

I watched the Venom trailer a few days ago, and it really was underwhelming. I won’t completely judge the movie based on a couple minutes, but the fact that there was no Venom – just Eddie Brock – missed out on what the audience was waiting to see. Hopefully better trailers come out in the future, as the Marvel Universe has been having a really great stream of films lately (Ragnarok, Spiderman, soon-to-be-released Black Panther). I hope this movie doesn’t end the streak.

“One of the main issues that this movie is facing is that the film won’t include Spider-Man. That’s right folks, a Spider-Man villain movie that won’t have Spider-Man appear. How will this work? How is Sony making their own Spider-Verse without the web-slinger?”
Venom’s had his own non-Spidey adventures often enough I don’t think that’s necessarily an issue. Otherwise I think your review nails the problems.

After watching the trailer, I had mixed reactions. It appeared to approach Venom in a more psychological sense, rather than in a physical state, which was really interesting. However, it makes me question to what extent this film will be focused on its thematic approach and characterisation. I’m cautiously optimistic at this point, but I need much more content to digest before I can fully understand where this film is intending on going.

Exactly. I acknowledge that it was meant to be a ‘teaser’ and therefore may not have intended to give us an in depth look at what to expect. There’s just something missing in that trailer and, at this moment in time, I’m not quite sure what it is.

I wholeheartedly agree. It didn’t feel like anything particularly special or significant and there wasn’t a moment where it really excited me. It’s a shame that they pushed out a trailer this early, it could have been so much more.